The Life of Death
by fanaticwr1t3r
Summary: When Raven meets the Angel of Death in a dream, and desputes that being the Grim Reaper is a very rough job... Death decides to take a vacation... and give Raven the title of Death... How will she handle it?
1. Lady Death

The Life of Death

The Life of Death

An Inspired Story

--

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans

--

We all know what 'Angels' are. Guardian Angels, Heaven's Angels, and even Charlie's Angels… and yes that last one is a TV show.

But the last Angelic example you might think of… is the Grim Reaper.

The Angel of Death.

Well, let's rise back to the surface for now, and to the Life of 5 teenagers living in a giant T. Yes, the Teen Titans. They're just your average superhero team.

Robin, the leader. He's fierce, swift, determined, and oh-so serious. Bo-staff and hi-tech gadget belt aside, his ninja techniques alone are enough to make the most hardened men fall within a few seconds.

Starfire, the strong member of the team. And yes, the strong member of the normal super-hero team is usually Superman. But… think of Starfire… as Superwoman. A more… petite and cutie version of Superwoman. She's nice, happy-go-lucky, caring, and heart-warming… if you're her friend. And let's face it… to be her friend you have to meet her and look nice. Well, act nice. You can look like you just got off of the island in LOST and still be befriended by her… but she's more than a nice girl. She'll whoop arse, or in her words, "Kick the butt", if you tempt her to.

Cyborg, the technology-obsessed member of the team, and the only reason for that is because he's part robot. He's mainly athletic, and like many athletes… he has a woman he loves so much that if she died… he'd build a new one. Yes, his oh-so-well-groomed T-Car. He's got arms that can turn into sonic cannons… and most recently, chainsaws, sonic analyzers, monitors, and enough gadgets to make Inspector Gadget look like a moron.

Raven, the dark and mysterious girl of the team. Or, rather, the dark and mysterious 'deadbeat sarcasm' gothic girl on the team. Her favorite pick… favorite because there's always something to be sarcastic about with him around… is our next and last-but-not-least character to introduce, or re-introduce, to you. Oh, and also, before I forget… her Father ended the world, _our world_, and her soul is part demon. Let's not forget that…

Beast Boy, last but not least. He can turn into any animal, and he can turn any joke into a big mouthful of lemons sour enough to make your face look like a blowfish. The one distinctive thing about his animals are… even if he turns into a Zebra or a Giraffe, it's always green. Like his skin. Oh, did we forget to mention that? He has pointy ears, he's green, and he has a fanged tooth that sticks out of his mouth. You must be thinking, he's _obviously_ a _hit_ with the ladies, _hm_?

Well, now that you've had a lengthy introduction to the team… let's bring the focus to the story.

A story that will take you on a ride in life… or death. However you see it.

To put it simply, one of these Teen Titans is going to take a dive into a deep swimming pool of constant craziness, soul-reaping, and scythe-swiping. Yes… I'm talking about…

The Life of Death.

--

"Listen, I don't know who you are, but I'm dreaming. I won't wake up until I force you out of my head. SO LET ME FORCE YOU OUT OF MY HEAD!" a girl's monotonic voice echoed about a desolate dimension filled with red-eyed birds and burgundy stepping stones. This where the portal to Raven's mind leads. The last visitors in here other than Ravens… Yes, with an 'S'… were two wandering souls who accidentally found themselves here. Who? Beast Boy and Cyborg.

Raven was standing there, in her mind dimension, facing down an impenetrable image of a being standing there with a long black-coated sword. And that being… was female.

"I'm not leaving until you call me by my name." The woman said, not taking the pissed Raven seriously. She leaned against her sword, smirking.

"Well, then, I'll do that then. DEATH, leave my mind NOW!" Raven yelled, the echo traveling around them.

Lady Death cackled, as Raven's annoyance grew. "You know what… your mind is actually my style. I should build a mansion here or something."

"Take you and your stupid sword and GET OUT!" Raven yelled, and then suddenly 'Death' got annoyed. "This sword is not stupid, nor just a _sword_. It is Frostmourne, and the souls it has devoured are endless…" she said, keeping her emotional composure. "So what? I NEED YOU OUT NOW!" Raven bellowed.

"No. I need a place to stay. Hunting the lost suffering souls roaming the Astral Plains and taking the souls of those whose physical forms are dead, and those who have failed in the light of Life... Being Death is a very hard job." She said, and put down her dark shady hood, revealing medium-length crystal-blue hair.

"What's so hard about being Death? You're not-" Raven began, and suddenly she found herself short of breath.

"You know, me and the Bringer of Life have come to an agreement." Lady Death said, and Raven collapsed to her hands and knees, gasping for air.

"I get a vacation. You're the new Death." The lady said, as Raven glared.

"Bye. Off to the Caspian Sea." The lady said, waving, "And also… good morning…"

…

"Good morning Jump City! The time is 9 in the morning, and if you're using us here at 92.5 FM to wake up today, let's start you off with the kind of music that gets your ears blazing and your heart racing. Here it is, a song by British Power-Metal band, Dragonforce,… 'Through the Fire and Flames'" a radio host said over the radio, as Raven sat up in bed and gasped.

The fast-paced blaring guitarists began rocking out, as Raven slowly and groggily got to her feet. She walked over to the doorway, down the hall a short ways, and into the nearby bathroom. She walked to the sink, got her 1 toothbrush, and started brushing.

About 40 seconds, and she rinsed and went on her way. Down the hall, she got to the elevator, and got inside. "Main Room." She said aloud, as the new voice-recognition activated, a woman's voice saying, "Acknowledged."

She got upstairs, and Beast Boy was the only one around, sitting on the couch flipping through the early morning news and re-runs of favored shows. Raven walked past, almost going unnoticed by the green changeling. She sat down, and poured a cup of herbal tea.

Beast Boy had apparently just now given up channel-flipping, and decided to listen to some music. He bit his lip in concentration, and plugged the headphones' plug into a nearby speaker. Suddenly, electricity zapped the line, and hit him, frying him.

Raven stood up, turned around and gasped, dropping her tea. As Beast Boy cried out, suddenly her vision warped.

It almost went cross-eye view, and then back to normal. It looked like night-vision goggles, only black. And the darkest black of it all was covering Beast Boy.

She put her hand to her eyes, and then took her hand back down. It was regular viewing again, and then suddenly she got a huge headache.

Beast Boy then fell over, letting go of the cord. She turned around, and saw a flash of black light that only she could see. He got up, and shook his head back and forth from the electrocution he just faced down.

He chuckled very slightly, and turned to Raven, who was still horrified. "I guess I'll never do that again, huh?" Beast Boy said, smiling and rubbing the back of his neck, as Raven still just stared in horror.

In her eyes only, were golden-colored words over her teammate's head, and Those words were…

"Status: Communicating with Death"

--


	2. Meet My New Friend the Grip Reaper

--

--

"Ah, the air of the Caspian." Lady Death said, taking a very large sniff of the giant Caspian Sea air…

"Akatu." A deep voice rung out across the bay, attracting several Iranian boater's and fisher's attentions across the vast lake.

"Oh, you." She said, as a being covered in blue light walked down out of the midst.

"Yes, me." He said. The Bringer of Life.

"Well, Brother… I finally got my vacation. An eternity of hunting the lost souls… millennium after millennium passed… and this is a first." Lady Death said, as she leaned back calmly, resting atop the water of the Caspian Sea, and froze the water under her in the shape of a beach chair.

"It may be your vacation… but I must ask something of you." The Bringer of Life said, as she sighed.

"How'd I know that this wouldn't be as easy-going as I thought?" 'Akatu' said, as the Bringer of Life chuckled.

"Because we've known each other for an eternity." He spoke, and disappeared, as his voice echoed about the bay, "Ensure that nobody dies in the Teen Titans… especially not Robin or Starfire. I have plans for them."

Akatu gave the sky a confused look, and the look quickly faded into nothing. She floated up, and disappeared, causing the entire Caspian Sea to freeze solid.

She had instantly traveled, now at the shore of the island that the Teen Titans' Tower sat on.

As she climbed the slightly steep slope, rocks blocked her path. She hurdled over them, and said, "Excuse me, Mother Earth…"

She grinned, as she made her way up quickly towards the Tower entrance, "Or, should I say, Daughter Earth."

--

"Raven, we don't exactly know _what_ you saw today." Robin said in a serious tone, staring at her.

"Yeah, can you tell us it again?" Beast Boy asked, as his glance went from Raven to Cyborg, "Because, seriously, dudes, I don't know how I could be talking to 'Death' and Raven at the SAME TIME!"

"Oh, please, and do explain the nature of your night marings… they sound truly frightening… did the Death person hurt you in any way?" Starfire asked, concern flooding her face.

"No, but she did _something_ to me…" Raven replied quietly, looking herself over.

"Maybe you're sick?" Cyborg asked, and Robin turned to him. "Good idea, Cyborg." He then quieted down, and started to think. He then turned to Raven, and asked, "Is there any way that something could be causing these illusions to happen?"

"Or maybe the person 'Death' is the Madame Rouge in disguise!" Starfire said a bit loud, raising a finger.

"No, I say she's just tired. Maybe we should try and fight some battles without her for some reason… maybe it'll help." Cyborg suggested, as Beast Boy waved his arms.

"Or maybe it's a giant airborne virus causing delusions so we all go crazy and eat each other!" Beast Boy exclaimed, as Raven growled in annoyance.

"ENOUGH!" she yelled, as everyone stopped talking and stared at her.

"Look, I don't know what's happening to me, but I'll fix it. Alone." She said, and then took off towards her room.

The other Titans gave each other confused looks, as Raven got to her room.

She sat down on her bed, grabbing the Spellbook on the way. "Come on… come on…" she whispered repeatedly.

"Hi." A voice said in front of her bed, and she gasped, immediately closing the book and getting to her feet.

She set it aside, and cast her arm out, an orb of her black energies circling around her hand. "Stay back." She warned, as the lady walked closer.

Lady Death.

"Listen, I'm not here to hurt you." The young-looking blue-haired woman said, trying to coax Raven.

Raven then shot out a beam of black, and the woman simply absorbed it.

Raven took a step back, surprised.

"Thanks. By the way, the name's Akatu… you can just call me 'Katu if you may please." Akatu said, keeping a nice talking tone of voice.

"I don't trust you." Raven said bitterly, as Akatu took several more steps forward.

"Good. Don't trust anyone unless you know in your heart you can. I would say I know but-" she began, and then paused.

"I don't have a heart anymore."

Raven took many more steps back, and cast her hand out in defense again.

"You know, Raven Rotheria…" Akatu began, as Raven gasped.

"You… you know my name?" she sputtered, as Akatu smirked.

"Of course I do. I had to reap the souls of Azarath once your Father destroyed it… your mother was one of the few that Life brought up with him… so I took note of her children. You." She explained, as Raven's mouth gaped.

"Because like your mother, you can accomplish good without knowing it," she said, and then laughed a bit rubbing her chin, "Oh, wow, I really did sound like my Brother right then…"

--

"Listen, man, I'm just sayin, maybe we should leave her alone and let her figure it out for herself." Cyborg told Robin, as Robin shook his head.

"We're a team, Cyborg." He said, "We don't leave anyone out."

"I know that but-" Cyborg began, as the two began quietly arguing, and Starfire leaned towards Beast Boy's ear.

"Do you think she is troubled?" she asked Beast Boy in a whisper, as he shrugged, silent.

Then, Raven walked in awkwardly, the woman called Lady Death right behind her.

"Uh, hi everyone…" Raven said quietly, but her recognizable voice was enough to attract the four Titans' attentions.

"Who's that?" Robin asked, pointing, standing beside Cyborg.

"Uh…" Raven said, as the woman stepped forward in a take-charge manner.

"Akatu Ikaria… the Angel of Death." She said.

In reaction, Raven let out a soft sigh, Beast Boy's eyes widened, Robin's eyes widened a bit, Starfire gasped and took a few steps back in the awkwardness, and Cyborg's one eye widened a lot.

In a flash of light, a scythe appeared in the lady's hands.

"Volbrand'r. My all-powerful scythe." She said, firmly rubbing it, the black iron handle with an engraved face standing out above the blade.

She set it upright, the bottom tip touching the floor, and turned it around on its base.

"I always keep one side _dirty_." She boasted, tons of dried blood and some actual fresh blood on the newly revealed side of the scythe's blade.

Beast Boy, feint at heart, passed out and landed flat on his back, as Starfire began shaking.

Raven let out another deep sigh, and said sarcastically to Akatu, "Great first impression.", as Lady Death glared.

"Oh, and the latest blood on this is Batman's." Akatu said aloud, and glanced at Robin. Robin's pointed finger went limp, and he passed out too.

Akatu cackled and shrugged, "I knew that would get him. Plus, Batman's too valuable to kill."

Starfire backed so far away she bumped the wall to her surprise, as Cyborg was frozen still at the sight of the blood.

"So, anyone going to introduce themselves or what?" she asked, and nobody responded. Robin and Beast Boy were KO'd, Starfire was freaked out at the idea of tons of people killed by something and someone in front of her, and Cyborg was shocked stiff by the sight of the blood.

Raven glared at her, as the young-looking woman got a white cloth off her shoulder and polished her scythe's handle, the room filled with more silence. Breaking it, she asked the four Titans again…

"Anyone?"

--


	3. Soul Duty

--

"Listen, everybody calm down. We're going to be fine." Robin said, trying to calm things down.

"We can't calm down!" Cyborg said loudly, "We have the Grim Reaper living in _our house_!"

"And dude, with all of Raven's wacko-creepiness, she's going to be like three times worse!" Beast Boy said, nearly ripping his hair out in the panic set off by their new visitor.

"So, you're Koriand'r, correct?" Akatu, the one woman that was scaring everyone, asked Starfire.

Starfire almost nodded, but then replied, "Not any more… my name is Starfire on this planet." She smiled, and so did Death herself to Raven's surprise.

"Wait, you're 'Lady' Death… the grim reaper. How do you even _have_ emotions?" Raven pointed out, staring at her.

She shrugged, and said, "I just do."

"Is that truly… people's… _blood_ on that shiny mechanism?" Starfire asked, pointing at the Scythe of Death.

The woman leaned towards Raven and said in a whisper, "Does she always ask such obvious questions?"

Raven whispered back, "Pretty much."

Akatu smirked, and looked at Starfire again. "Yes, actually, it is."

Raven looked at her with surprise, and Akatu noticed.

"What? Even Death can't be nice once in a while? It's nice finally meeting a soul other than when I have to take their life."

Starfire gulped at that line, as Robin and Cyborg walked up behind her… Beast Boy keeping his distance.

Robin put his hand on Starfire's shoulder and said, "Star, how about you leave the room for a few minutes? Go watch a movie or something in your room? I got the new DVD set, remember?"

She slowly nodded, and grabbed a few nearby DVD cases and quickly flew to her room.

As the door slid shut, Robin glared at Lady Death.

"I only got her out of here because I don't want her having any more nightmares from tonight than she _needs _to." Robin said, staring her in the face, "… and actually she doesn't need _any_ at all."

"Are you really trying to intimidate me, little one?" Akatu said, leaning forward, the obvious height mismatch showing even more, with Robin on the short end of the stick.

"You can't just waltz in here without notice and freak my team out like this." Robin said, as Raven glared at Lady Death. Akatu stepped back, as she grabbed her scythe.

"I'll leave then. But I'll be back at any sign of trouble. You may not want me, but you definitely need me now." She said, and then looked straight at Raven, smirking.

"Good luck with the job, Raven. You're going to need it. By the way, your soul duty starts in 3 hours, so get ready."

Then she poofed into thin air, but without any Ninja smoke.

The Titans gave shocked stares, as Cyborg's mouth hung open a bit.

In the awkwardness, Cyborg turned around quickly, and yawned. "Well, I'm going back to bed." He said a bit quickly, and walked out of the room.

"Me too. Let's all get our rest." Robin said, as Raven stopped him.

"Not all of us." She said, and then looked to the side.

Robin turned around, and shook his head. "I don't know what to tell you… but… good luck."

They all took off the opposite direction, and Beast Boy was last, eying Raven in a bit of worry on the way out.

--

Raven was sitting on her bed, fully awake, in a cross-legged position. She was watching the clock set right in front of her, and tapping her fingers.

She yawned, right as the clock turned 3:30 in the morning. If 'Akatu' was spot on, she'd be on 'duty' at 3:35 AM.

But suddenly, her vision began to warp. The room turned black, and her room suddenly vanished in her eyes, blotted out by the darkness.

She looked around in her room, and even though the room was there for real… for her eyes, it was not.

She grabbed the clock, remembering where it last was, but still couldn't see it. She sighed, and closed her eyes.

She opened them, and suddenly she was in a dark forest at nighttime. She looked around on the thin pine trees, and at chest-level on every tree was a black circle. Then she realized what she was standing on. A black drawing shaped like several triangles conjoined together to form a big triangle, and then that was surrounded a big circle. It was about half the size of a basketball court.

Then, the wind blew. It felt very very cold. Suddenly, several wolves howled, and then one actually rushed by. It wasn't a normal wolf, but yet, a huge Yeti-sized wolf, with huge fangs and blood-red eyes. Raven took a step back, as it ferociously growled, and rubbed its paw on a rock. However, on its paw was an envelope tied to it by string, and when it rubbed on the rock, it came off.

The wolf ran off of Raven kneeled down to open it.

"If my wolfie did a good job, then you should be reading this with no damage and minimal dirt on the backside. Your duty is simple. Take the scythe… which just now appeared behind you in the black circle as you read this… once you do, close your eyes and then open them. If the overcoat doesn't appear instantly, then either I've been killed… which is impossible, or my Brother hasn't had enough sex in heaven… and that was a bad joke. Any way, if you need me, I'm sorry, but I won't be there. I decided to start whoring all the Dawn of War posters on eBay… so, once you take hold of the scythe, you'll naturally be exactly what I needed to be to do that job. Have fun."

Raven forced her eyes away from the note at the end, wondering what exactly she got herself into. She turned to the Scythe, and picked it up. She sighed, and closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she suddenly had a black overcoat on, long enough to drag on the ground.

She studied the scythe, and then noticed it had no blood. Then she saw a note tied around the top with a string, and it read…

"I wouldn't dare give you my Volbrand'r. So you get this unused scythe instead. Enjoy."

She muttered, "I know I'm a really depressing person, but this just hits the very bottom of depressing jobs."

--

"Soul duty? Do we even know what that means?" Cyborg asked, as the discussion had still gone over into morning's breakfast.

"Dude, are we even _SUPPOSED_ to know?!" Beast Boy said loudly, as Robin shook his head in distress.

"Why could I of not done the job for her? I have actually… err…" Starfire began, but then stopped.

The other Titans gave her surprised looks.

"Well, erm… I was… fighting… a very unwanted war! And the opposing side was very threatening to my planet! And.. erm… the… battle was in need of desperate… help… and I… uh… had to!" she said, trying to explain. She then gave up, and buried her head in her hands.

Robin was giving her the most shocked look anybody could ever have, especially from finding out something so unexpected about his own girlfriend.

"You've _killed_ before, Star?" he said, almost speechless.

--

"Well, next up on this list… Car Wreck on Highway 13… where's-" Raven began, but suddenly her surroundings zoomed by as if she was going the speed of light, but only feeling the wind.

"- Highway 13…" she finished, now in the middle of a highway.

Suddenly, a truck horn started blaring, and she turned quickly, huge truck headlights in her face. She covered her face with her arms, and suddenly, a whoosh, as the huge dump truck passed through her.

The deep horn stopped, as she turned around, as her hair and new overcoat settled down from the whoosh of air.

Another 18-wheeler cab pushed through her, and if she wasn't even there. But visibly she was, because of the first driver freaking out and honking his horn like crazy…

She quickly rushed off the highway, and stood at the side of the road in the grassy ditch.

She then saw the accident. A white-colored 18-wheeler Cab with a full trailer had smashed into a small 4-door white sedan, and the result was horrible. It had just happened, and the 40-something-year-old truck driver got out in his blue hat and red-and-white checkerboard shirt, and gasped at the sight, walked alongside the vehicle, whose entire backside was bend forward, and the black metal frame bent in towards the passenger.

A young woman was there, conscious, and her face a wreck. Her face was covered in blood, and one of the steel poles was impaled through her upper stomach.

Raven rushed over, and then the Truck driver went from shocked by the accident from scared out of his shoes. He jumped back, and his backside landed against the side of his cab, and make a loud 'Wha-ho!" sound in shock.

As he began breathing fast, Raven walked up to the passenger, and upon seeing the victim, had to turn away from the sight in disgust.

She shook her head, and said, "This won't do."

As the truck driver inched over, he watched Raven use her powers to move the impaled steel out of the woman's body, and then put her hand on the woman's wound.

The woman slowly looked down, as Raven healed her wound completely.

The woman then leaned towards her and hugged her, as Raven kept a straight face, and just patted her arm.

"Thank you… I thought I was a goner… and… you're… th-the grim reaper… I really did have a reason to live… if you spared me…" the woman said, short of breath, but happiness and relief in her voice, "It's… probably my only son… thank… you…"

Raven simply smiled and nodded, helping her out of the car.

"Hey, uh, if you're ok… I'll give you.. a-a… ride home." The truck driver said, his face pale, pointing over to his truck, which was still in commission.

"Sure, I'd be really thankful." The lady said, as she walked with the man to get in the cab.

Raven's smile quickly faded, and she sighed, and blew a hair atop her forehead in exhaustion.

"Akatu's _so_ going to kill me for this…" she muttered, as the two pulled off.

--


	4. Death is Dead

"Akatu

"Akatu." Said a voice in Raven's room. It was about 10 in the morning, and Lady Death was sleeping in the bed, and immediately woke up.

"Va- oh" she said, turning on the nearby lamp and seeing Raven there soaking wet.

"How did soul duty go?" she asked Raven tauntingly, getting up.

Raven said, obviously bummed out, "_Awesome_. I did the opposite of what the Grim Reaper is supposed to do and-" but suddenly Akatu cut her off, and said, "What?!"

"I… saved someone." Raven muttered, as Akatu's eyes widened.

"You brittle fool!" she yelled, as Raven's eyes flew open in sudden surprise.

"Excuse me?" Raven said, and began to scoff, "I didn't _ASK_ to do this. You did it just so you could have some stupid vacation from killing people and leaving it to someone that actually _has_ empathy!"

"Well, it wasn't my call." Akatu said, shaking her head in disappointment.

Raven stared at her, with one eyebrow raised, in suspicion.

"Then whose was it?" Raven asked, as Akatu gasped and looked right at her, realizing what she just gave away.

--

"There isn't a way we could just… ask this Ikaria person to leave us alone or something?" Cyborg asked, the sun getting higher and higher as the time got closer to noon, as the four teens gathered around the table.

"Tell her? Dude, did you even look at her reaper thingy? I want to live! _LIVE!_" Beast Boy said, slamming his fist on the table at that last word.

"Calm down, let's just think this out." Robin said, coming between the two with his hands raised, Starfire sitting close behind him, not saying a word, looking sad.

"You haven't been talking lately… is everything ok?" Robin turned and asked her, noticing her separation from the conversation.

"I… did not want to ever remember… taking a life…" Starfire said, then she began to sob.

The other two guys stopped there bickering for the time being, seeing Starfire crying.

"Come on, Star, things happen." Beast Boy said, as Robin patted her on the back.

"Yeah… war is a horrible thing… but it doesn't make you a bad person." Cyborg said, keeping his volume low in a soothing tone.

Starfire leaned back and raised her head, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Cyborg's right, Star. No need to feel bad about yourself. It's alright." Robin said, gently holding her hand. She hugged him, slowly starting to stop crying.

--

"… Some people just aren't meant to be Death… you're too empathetic." Akatu said, shaking her head.

"No… some people just aren't meant to kill." Raven said.

"Good point." Akatu replied, as Raven shrugged.

"I…guess all this was just a coincidence then?" Raven added, as Death shook her head.

"Nothing is just a coincidence. Remember that."

Then suddenly, she poofed into thin air, as Raven stared at where she just was.

--

'Lady Death' was gone, and Raven was back to her regular life.

While Death was back to hers.

"Raven." Robin said from outside her door, as she stood up from reading a book, and went over to open the door.

As she did, Robin was standing there; his arm leaned against the doorway.

"What?" Raven asked, seeing the look on his face. Disappointed, somehow.

"… Remember Akatu?" Robin said, walking down the hall and motioning her to come along.

"Sure. How could I _forget_?"

"… Well, apparently she had a huge fleet of ships…" Robin began, but Raven cut him off, "Fleet? Of ships?"

"Yeah… her main ship… had her daughter's soul in it… somehow…" Robin said, as Raven raised an eyebrow.

"_Ooook_, and why are you telling me this?" Raven asked, as Robin faced her.

"They found her ship cut in half on the moon…"

"Cut in half?!" Raven said a bit loud, as Robin turned away, a straight look on his face.

--

"… Death is…_dead_, Raven."

Her face lit up with shock, as Robin turned around, a bit of worry beginning to show now.

"And we're next."

--


	5. Great

--

--

"We're the Teen Titans. We'll stay strong, and be alright." Robin said, as the group huddled.

"What do we do now?" Starfire asked, as Beast Boy spoke up.

"Die?"

Everyone gave him a glare, as he shrugged.

"Maybe not…"

--

"Listen, V… if anyone dies from here on out, they'll be lost forever without Akatu… gone… forgotten." A teenage boy said. He had short blue hair, and blue eyes, and was about 5 feet 9 inches.

"We need not disturb the Titans, Anaks. You know that." The man said before him.

"I know, but we don't need to just sit back and watch!" the teen said.

"I'm boarding Celsius. Just because Akatu's ships went down… doesn't mean mine can't help the Titans from orbit." He added, as 'V' shoot his head.

'Anaks' walked off, about to teleport on-board his ship.

"Your ship will be destroyed if you don't stay away from the moon!" the man yelled behind him.

"I'll take my chances." Anaks said icily, and teleported.

--

It was already sundown in Jump City, California. The bay waters began to settle, and each one of the Titans had the feeling they wouldn't be having an ordinary night.

And they were right.

"Titans, trouble!" Robin said over the intercom, as everyone jumped out of the sheets of their bed and ran into the main room.

"We've got something bigger than Cinderblock approaching the Tower from the west…" Robin said.

"This thing looks huge!" Cyborg said in a panic, checking the scale on the screen.

"And _we've_ got to fight it _off_…." Raven muttered.

Robin's face turned into his usual mode of determination, and he slammed his fist into his other palm. "We will."

Suddenly, the intercom turned on, surprising them all.

"Titans, titans! Do you read?" the voice of a younger boy echoed over the intercom.

"Loud and clear… who are you?" Robin asked, using the speaker hanging from the nearby wall to respond.

"My name is Anaks Ion… and I'm commanding a ship the size of 20 football fields, with 20 different ion cannons ready for firing… I'm got them sighted on the grid that monster is on… but they might hit the tower too."

Robin looked at the group, and 3 of them nodded. 1 didn't do a thing.

Those three were Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg… and Starfire wasn't sure.

Robin stuck with her though, knowing that she usually had the best input of anyone around… and knowing her, she wouldn't stay silent if it was the right choice.

"No, hold your fire until we give the signal." Robin answered, as 'Anaks' suddenly caught something inside the tower on radar.

"Stay sharp, there's an entity emitting massive amounts of plasma energy around there… it's a metal-melting substance, so be careful…" he said over the intercom, as the other Titans readied themselves.

"Robin.. to your… left. Now." Anaks said quietly, as he turned and saw Starfire.

"Uh, there's nothing around here, man." Cyborg commented, as Anaks shook his head in the ship.

"Maybe it's just a malfunction…" he began, but unknown to him, a being was behind him in the ship, coming up to strike him as he sat at the bridge's console, "I'll double check with my advisors to see if the readings are inaccurate."

He turned around with some papers in his hand, and said, "Hey, there you are, Jema. I needed you to-"

But he stopped talking as the teenage girl about Starfire's size grabbed his throat, and choke slammed him against the console, choking him out.

The microphone screeched, alarming the Titans.

"Anaks?" Robin asked, taking hold of the nearby speaker.

"Anaks?" he said again, as the microphone squealed again, and then nothing but static. Robin turned his head away, with an expression filled with confusion and thought.

"Who… are… you…?" Anaks muttered, but not to them.

And they could hear it loud and clear.

"Call me Blackfire." The girl answered, as Starfire gasped. Then the microphone and connection cut off for good.

"We must stop her!" Starfire yelled.

"Calm down. It won't do us any good if we don't get out of here alive." Cyborg said calmly, and then suddenly the whole room shook.

"Uh-oh, that's bad." Beast Boy added quietly, looking around in a bit of fear.

The room then shook again, knocking the power out.

Cyborg turned on his flashlight, with Raven close behind… the only thing she had to say was…

"_Great_."

--


End file.
